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NAPCAN endorses ASH Australia
The Queensland Department of Child Safety Annual Report 2005-6
Commitment to Young Australians
Senate Discusses Child Protection
Supporting Best Practice - launch of the new Children's Rights segment
ASH Australia is a health promotion charity with a long history of advocacy to improve the health of children by reducing their exposure to tobacco promotions and to harm caused by tobacco products.
They have produced an advocacy kit containing a number of recommendations, based on evidence, including:
* ending tobacco advertising in shops with an out of sight policy;
* making cars carrying children smoke-free;
* fully implementing a licensing scheme for tobacco sellers to
improve regulation; and
* ending tobacco sales by children in shops.
As governments are soon to consider similar recommendations from their own health departments (SA and Tasmania are already considering them), these matters are pressing - ASH Australia intends to use the kits in meetings over the next several months to gain political support for legislative reform. A bad decision by even one state or territory could jeopardise strong legislation nationwide.
The kit contains information, facts, evidence countering tobacco and retail companies' claims, and a six-minute DVD, as well as constructive proposals for improvement. Importantly, ASH Australia seeks to make the point that tobacco is not a matter of "informed adult lifestyle choice" as misleadingly portrayed by the tobacco industry - it is in fact routinely a result of childhood recruitment and addiction. A society quite properly takes measures to protect its children from harm. MORE
Considering the harm caused by abuse of children's health and rights by the tobacco industry, NAPCAN has added its name to the list of groups endorsing the measures.
Australia 's mothers and babies 2005 is the fifteenth report providing information on births in Australia from perinatal data collections for each state and territory. The report presents demographic, pregnancy and childbirth factors of women who gave birth in 2005 and the characteristics and outcomes of their babies. This edition includes a chapter on socioeconomic status of mothers. The report is produced by the AIHW National Perinatal Statistics Unit based at the University of New South Wales and can be used by researchers, academics, students, policy makers and health service planners, and those providing services in reproductive health. MORE
The report affirms NAPCAN's belief that caring for children and young people is the responsibility of the entire community, and it encourages the reader to consider how each of us can contribute to the ongoing protection of vulnerable children and young people in the local community. MORE
(Taken from Senate Hansard, 12 September 2006 : pp. 50-64)
Senator Bartlett, Australian Democrats Senator for Queensland, proposed to move the following:
"That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:
In the light of the repeated failures by our society to protect children from serious abuse and neglect, the need for all political parties to make child protection a national priority and for all governments to urgently determine ways to significantly reduce the totally unacceptable levels of serious child abuse and neglect that is occurring in all sections of the Australian community."
A lengthy discussion ensued. MORE
Supporting Best Practice - launch of the new Children's Rights segment Early Childhood Australia has quality-assured over 100 webpages dealing with the vital issue of children's rights. The links are divided into 5 areas:
- About human rights
- UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CROC)
- Children's rights - global action
- CROC implementation
- Teaching for children's rights
ECA's Supporting Best Practice web directory is free to access. MORE
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